Auburn Hills, MI - The Hartford Hawks women's basketball team's three-game win streak came to a close on the road at the Palace of Auburn Hill with a 58-45 loss to #20/18 Michigan State on Saturday afternoon. Hartford is now 7-4 overall, while the Spartans improve to 7-1 overall. The Hawks offense was led by Ikea Witt and Danielle Hood, who both finished with 12 points.
Hartford struggled from the floor in the second half connecting on 23.3 percent of its shots, 7-of-30. At the same time the Hawks held the Spartans to only 10 second half baskets (41.7 percent), but a mid-second half eight point run for MSU allowed the Spartans to open up a double digit lead the Hawks were unable to recover from.
Both teams combined for a 1-of-30 effort from beyond the arc, with the only three point basket coming from the Hawks MaryLynne Schaefer. Hood finished the game with a 5-of-9 effort to lead the Hawks shooting with Witt finishing 4-of-9 with a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line. Hartford finished the game with a 41-17 advantage on the boards, led by seven from Witt. She was followed closely by Hood, Diana Delva and Katie Kelley, who all finished with six.
“We couldn't really overcome a late run from the Spartans and a couple of unforced turnovers,” said head coach Jennifer Rizzotti. “Michigan State is one of the best teams on our schedule. It was a great test for our team to come out and play a Michigan State team that has been among the best in the past five year. I like the aggressiveness of our post players to grab 20 offense rebounds, which is a season high for us.”
The Hawks took an early deficit but quickly erased it with an eight point stretch spanning only 1:45 of the game, taking their first lead of the game with 14:05 to play, 11-8. Six of the eight points for the Hawks came from Kelley, on a layup and a pair of jumpers. After trading baskets, the Spartans used their own eight point run to retake the lead, stretching it to as much as 18-13 with just under 10 minutes before the break.
The Hawks quickly erased that deficit with a layup from Delva and the only three pointer of the half for either team from Schaefer. After a pair of unanswered jump shots from Mia Johnson, the Hawks took a layup from Hood and one from Witt to re-tie the score at 22. The Spartans regained the lead with 3:35 to play in the half and would hold it until the break with Hartford trailing by a bucket at the intermission 28-26.
Hood led the Hawks in the first half with nine points and four rebounds while Kelly added six. Hartford held a slight 20-18 advantage on the boards at the break with Hood, Delva and Witt each grabbing four rebounds. Hartford finished the first 20 minutes with a 40 percent shooting effort on 12-of-30, while the Spartans took 33 shots and made 13 of them for a 39.4 percent effort.
The teams traded baskets for the first five minutes of the second half before an 8-0 run for Michigan State opened up their first double digit lead of the game with 10:25 to play in the game. Hartford went more than 7:45 without a basket, allowing the Spartans to keep the double digit lead and extend it to 11 with just under nine minutes remaining.
Hartford cut the MSU lead to seven at the final media timeout, but the Spartans answered back with a perfect 4-of-4 showing at the line and then a layup from Aisha Jefferson to take a 13 point lead, 55-42, with just over two minutes to play.
Hartford will break for finals this coming week with the next game scheduled a road outing at Hofstra University on December 22 at 12:00 noon.
